TELLING THE BRAIN DAMAGE STORY AT TRIAL Shareef Rabaa Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. 700 Broadway New York, NY 10003 [email protected] www.nybrainlaw.com 917-825-6101 1) Understanding the basics of story and storytelling Premise The premise of a story is “What is your story about?” You must know what your story is about before you start your story. You must remember what your story is about throughout your writing process. John Truby defines premise as the simplest combination of character and plot stated in one sentence, with an event that starts the action, some sense of main character and some sense of outcome of the story. Because you want your audience to care, to be captivated and to want to act, it is important for the premise of each and every story to be an important one. A life or death one. All great storytellers understand that your premise must be high stakes. Even children’s movies, fairytales and Disney movies have a high stakes/life or death premise. Take the movie “Frozen” for example. It is not just the royal family’s life at stake. It is the entire kingdom’s way of life that is at stake. Same thing with Sleeping Beauty and so on and so on. The lesson with premise is that the story is what YOU make it about. Obviously, there are facts that must be accounted for and marshaled together. Trial lawyers need to be bold and find the right premise for their stories. What I often see as a mistake is when trial lawyers use the deposition of their client as the start of their premise of a story. An opposing attorney could almost never get the real pulse of a personal injury case in a deposition. A trial attorney must spend time with their client and learn who they were, who they are now, and who they want to be. Only then can they truly get the premise of the story of their client. Show Don’t Tell Every writing student has heard the rule that you should show, not tell, but this principle seems to be among the hardest for beginners to master. First, what's the difference between the two? Well, "telling" is the reliance on simple exposition: Mary was an old woman. "Showing," on the other hand, is the use of evocative description: Mary moved slowly across the room, her hunched form supported by a polished wooden cane gripped in a gnarled, swollen-jointed hand that was covered by translucent, liver-spotted skin. Both showing and telling convey the same information — Mary is old — but the former simply states it flat-out, and the latter — well, read the example over again and you'll see it never actually states that fact at all, and yet nonetheless leaves no doubt about it in the reader's mind. Why is showing better? Two reasons. First, it creates mental pictures for the reader. When reviewers use terms like "vivid," "evocative," or "cinematic" to describe a piece of prose, they really mean the writer has succeeded at showing, rather than merely telling. Second, showing is interactive and participatory: it forces the reader to become involved in the story, deducing facts (such as Mary's age) for himself or herself, rather than just taking information in passively. Let's try a more complex example: Singh had a reputation for being able to cut through layers of bureaucracy and get things done. Doubtless a useful chap to have around, this Singh, but he's rather a dull fellow to read about. Try this instead: Chang shook his head and looked at Pryce. "All this red tape! We'll never get permission in time." Suddenly the office door slid open, and in strode Singh, a slight lifting at the corners of his mouth conveying his satisfaction. He handed a ROM chip to Chang. "Here you are, sir — complete government clearance. You can launch anytime you wish." Chang's eyebrows shot up his forehead like twin rockets, but Singh was already out the door. He turned to Pryce, who was leaning back in his chair, grinning. "That's our Singh for you," said Pryce. "We don't call him the miracle worker for nothing." In the first version, Singh is spoken about in the abstract, while in the second, we see him in the concrete. That's the key to showing: using specific action-oriented examples to make your point. When writing a romantic scene, don't tell us that John is attracted to Sally; show us that his heart skips a beat when she enters the room. It's rarely necessary to tell us about your characters' emotions. Let their actions convey how they feel instead. (Notice that at the end of the second Singh version above, Pryce tells us about Singh. That's a special case: it's fine for one of your characters to say what he or she thinks of another; in fact, that's a good way to reveal characterization for both the person being spoken about and the person doing the speaking.) Cite: http://www.sfwriter.com/ow04.htm Character Arc A character arc is the status of a character as it unfolds throughout a narrative. A character begins the narrative with certain viewpoints that change through events in the narrative, in part because they must adapt to changes throughout the storyline. In many narratives, the main characters or protagonists seem unable to resolve their problems because they lack the skills to overcome the forces of antagonism that confront them. This flaw is a driving element of the story's plot. In order to improve their predicaments, not only do they often learn new skills but also must arrive at a higher sense of self- awareness and capability. In turn, they can only achieve such awareness in contact with their environment and usually mentors and co-protagonists aid them. The new awareness changes who they are or are becoming. A character arc affects the protagonist in a narrative, though other characters can go through similar changes. Throughout the trajectory of narratives with a tripartite structure, character arcs often unfold beside the narrative arc in the following way: First Act During the first act, the character arc is established or re-established for at least one character, the main character (the protagonist), within the exposition of the environment including relationships to other characters. Later in the first act, a dynamic, on-screen incident, known as the inciting incident, or catalyst occurs that confronts the protagonist, whose attempts to deal with this incident lead to a second and more dramatic situation, known as the first turning point. By the first turning point, life will never be the same for the protagonist and raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film. The dramatic question should be framed in terms of the protagonist's call to action, (Will X recover the diamond? Will Y get the girl? Will Z capture the killer?). Second Act During the second act, also referred to as "rising action," the character arc develops as the protagonist attempts to resolve the problem initiated by the first turning point, only to discover ever worsening situations, which will lead often to the learning of new skills, and the discovery of capability, and (sometimes late in the second act if at all) the raising of self-awareness. Third Act During the third act, including the climax, "falling action," and resolution (denouement,) the narrative arc completes itself though the character arc does not typically. During the climax, because the main tensions of the story are brought to their most intense point and the dramatic question answered, a character arc reaches a place where the character gains a new sense of who they are becoming. As the plot and its subplots resolve, the character arc's emphasis shifts from the learning of any new skills or the discovery of dormant capability to the awakening of a higher level of self-awareness, which in turn changes who the character is becoming. Cite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_arc Themes Theme Definition: Theme is defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly. Major and Minor Themes: Major and minor themes are two types of themes that appear in literary works. A major theme is an idea that a writer repeats in his work, making it the most significant idea in a literary work. A minor theme, on the other hand, refers to an idea that appears in a work briefly and gives way to another minor theme. Examples of theme in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” are matrimony, love, friendship, and affection. The whole narrative revolves around the major theme of matrimony. Its minor themes are love, friendship, affectation etc. Difference between a Theme and a Subject: It is important not to confuse a theme of a literary work with its subject. Subject is a topic which acts as a foundation for a literary work while a theme is an opinion expressed on the subject. For example, a writer may choose a subject of war for his story and the theme of a story may be writer’s personal opinion that war is a curse for humanity. Usually, it is up to the readers to explore a theme of a literary work by analyzing characters, plot and other literary devices. Presentation of Themes: A writer presents themes in a literary work through several ways. A writer may express a theme through the feelings of his main character about the subject he has chosen to write about.